Mobile cabinet

ABSTRACT

A cabinet or support structure is equipped with a pair of large wheels mounted on wheel hubs that are eccentrically supported upon an axle, the axle being rotatable to raise the wheel hubs and thereby the wheels so that the bottom of the cabinet can seat on the floor or floor carpet, and when the axle is rotated to lower the hubs, the cabinet can then be moved on the large wheels together with edge-supported casters. Means are provided for rotating the axle and locking it in adjusted positions.

United States Patent 1151 3,685,851 Berry 1451 Aug. 22, 1972 1541 MOBILECABINET 2,150,441 3/1939 Harris ..280/43.1 1,857,653 5/1932 Meyercord etal..280/43.24 X 2 1 1 Hammo d A. Lak

[7 1 Mich- Berry, Sprmg e 1,661,959 3/1928 Reek ..280/43.17X

1,715,865 6/1929 Rosenfeld ..280/43.24 x 1 1 Asslgnee: Sheldon and p y3,263,765 8/1966 Just 61:11 ..280/43.24x

Muskegon, MlCh. 22 d; April 27 1970 Primary Examiner-Benjamin HershAssistant Examiner-Winston H. Douglas [21] Appl. No.: 31,886

[52] US. Cl. ..280/43.22, 280/4317, 280/4324 [51] Int. Cl. ..B62d 33/08[58] Field of Search.....280/8, 43, 43.1, 43.11, 43.17, 280/4322, 43.24,47, 47.16, 47.2, 47.21, 150, 150 A; 254/1 [56] References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 1,343,268 6/ 1920 Kopplin ..280/43.17 393,076 11/1888Novotny ..280/9 3,198,539 8/1965 McMullen ..280/43.17 1,907,005 5/1933Risser ..280/43.17 X

Att0meyDawson, Tilton, Fallon & Lungmus 57] ABSTRACT A cabinet orsupport structure is equipped with a pair of large wheels mounted onwheel hubs that are eccentrically supported upon an axle, the axle beingrotatable to raise the wheel hubs and thereby the wheels so that thebottom of the cabinet can seat on the floor or floor carpet, and whenthe axle is rotated to lower the hubs, the cabinet can then be moved onthe large wheels together with edge-supported casters. Means areprovided for rotating the axle and locking it in adjusted positions.

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PATENTEBmszz m2 sum 3 0F 5 3 6 I p 85 a5 Hum I mend A. BierrNVENTOR l4Bywawwomfl I Mg fi allovv ATTORNEYS MOBILE CABINET BACKGROUND ANDSUMMARY It is desired to have a cabinet or similar structure which willseat flat on the floor or floor carpet with great stability while it isbeing used, while also providing means for rendering the cabinet mobileand preventing it from digging deeply into carpets or other floormountings. Carpeted areas present a problem for the moving and locatingof cabinets in that wheels or casters on the cabinets tend to dig holesin carpets, leaving unsightly scars, and when it is desired to move thecabinet on wheels the holes present steep inclines that the wheels orcasters have to climb out of before normal rolling movement is realized.

I have discovered that the problem can be overcome by employing largewheels mounted on hubs that are eccentrically supported upon an axle sothat with the axle in one position, the cabinet will rest with greatstability on its base on the carpet, thus presenting a broad area ofcontact, while when the axle is rotated to lower the wheel hubs ormountings, the cabinet will then be carried by the wheels or movementover the carpet, and this movement is aided by anti-friction rollers orglides at the edges of the carpet, such edges being preferably cut awayto render the rollers effective only when the cabinet is tilted by thelowering of the wheels.

DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings, FIG. 1 is a broken side view inelevation of the cabinet at rest on the floor or carpet and with thewheels above the floor; FIG. 2, a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing thecabinet in a raised and tilted position for movement to anotherlocation; FIG. 3, a broken enlarged view of the lower portion of thecabinet showing the wheels in raised position and with a crank armpulled out and turned sideways as the first step in lowering the largewheels for movement of the cabinet; FIG. 4, a view similar to FIG. 3 butshowing the crank arm turned 90 for lowering the wheels and thus raisingthe cabinet half of the desired distance; FIG. 5, a view similar to FIG.4 but showing the crank arm turned the full 180 so that the cabinet israised for movement across the carpet, in dotted line the crank armbeing shown pushed into the cabinet for locking the crank in thisposition during the moving operation; FIG. 6, a broken perspective viewof the large wheels and axle and the crank arm employed for rotating theaxle; FIG. 7, a detail sectional view of the lower portion of thecabinet taken at line 77 of FIG. 3 but showing the crank arm retractedinto the axle as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 3; FIG. 8, a similarsectional view taken at line 8-8 of FIG. 4 with the crank arm invertical position, thus raising the cabinet halfway up; FIG. 9, asectional detail view, the section being taken at line 9-9 of FIG. andshowing the cabinet raised all of the way on fully lowered wheels, andwith the crank arm retracted into the axle as shown in dotted lines inFIG. 5; FIGS. 10 and 11, the sectional view and side view respectivelyof the square axle showing that the slot is on only one side of thetube; FIGS. 12 and 13, the sectional and side views of the axle housingshowing that the slot is U-shaped and that it is longer on one side thanthe other; and FIG. 14, an exploded perspective view showing all of theparts of the cabinet except the doors and some attachment parts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The cabinet described herein is illustrative ofvarious types of articles or support structures which may be used withthe present invention and the term cabinet is therefore employed in thebroad sense of a support type of structure.

The cabinet is one with a broad base adapted to seat upon a carpetedfloor without damaging the floor and presenting a highly stablestructure for use as a fixed cabinet. The mobile means which aredisclosed are out of the way and preferably concealed and are utilizedonly when it is desired to move the cabinet to another location. Formoving the cabinet to another location, the mechanism disclosed providesrotatable wheel hubs or wheel supports mounted eccentrically upon anaxle, the axle being rotatable to lift the wheel hubs so that the wheelsrest above the floor, or to lower the wheel hubs so that the wheelsengage the floor and raise the cabinet. For rotating the axle, I providea crank which is normally concealed within the axle but which may bewithdrawn to an angular position so as to rotate the axle. When the axlehas been rotated either to raised or lowered position, the crank may befolded and moved within the axle for concealing it while also providinglocking means for holding the elevated or lowered wheel in its adjustedposition.

By providing the cabinet at its forward or rear edges or at both edgeswith casters and preferably cutting away the corner edges, it is foundthat when the cabinet is tilted upon the large center wheels the cabinetstructure is easily carried by the set of casters at one edge togetherwith the large wheels. At the same time, when the large wheel areraised, not only the large wheels but also the casters are located abovethe floor or carpet and do not prevent the broad base of the cabinetfrom effectively serving as a stable base.

Referring to the drawings, a cabinet 20 is in general appearance atypical two-door 21 type, with a fullskirt 22 extending to the floor 23in front and rear, the skirt being cut away slightly at the comers andends 24 to allow the small casters 25 to protrude slightly.

The cabinet has two broad bottom panels 26 on which it sets when beingused, and this prevents the cabinet from sinking into the pile of therug or carpet and making unsightly holes.

As can be best seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, the cabinet lifting mechanismconsists of a cylindrical axle housing 27 which is attached to thecabinet bottom 28 by three plates 29, 30 and 31. The axle housing 27 hasa long U- shaped slot 32 in which the crank screw 33 travels when thecabinet is being raised or lowered. The axle 34 is square, with a screwslot 35 on one side only.

On the axle 34 fits two wheel hubs or bearings 36 with a square hole 37being eccentrically located within the hubs, and on the hubs rotate thelarge wheels 38 having concentric round holes 39 receiving the hubs.

The crank 40 consists of a square tubular body 41 which slides insidethe square axle 34 and an arm 42 which can assume two positions, (1)parallel to the body as at 43 when it is in the axle, or (2)perpendicular to the body as at 44 for raising and lowering the cabinet.Compare the relationship of the verticallytumed arm 44 and the screw 33in FIG. 6. As the arm is rotated, when pulled out as shown in FIG. 8, ittransfers the screw 33 from grove 32a as at 45 through the end of theU-slot 32b as at 46 and into the slot 320 as at 47 (FIG. 9).

There is an end cap 48 on the crank arm 42 which fits snugly against thelower cabinet front piece 49 when the cabinet is resting on the floor,as in FIG. 7, when the screw 33 is at the end of the slot 32a, but whenthe cabinet is raised, as shown in FIG. 9, the end cap 48 is spaced awayfrom the cabinet front 49, as indicated at 50, because slot 320 is notas long as slot 32a (FIG. 13). As a result, the protruding end cap 48can be grasped easily and pulled out when the cabinet is to be loweredagain. However, when the cabinet is being used for storage, the end capfits snugly against the cabinet front, as shown in FIG. 7, so as to beout of the way and to hide theend of the square axle 34.

The cabinet itself may be of any suitable construction and the cabinetstructure shown in the drawing is merely for illustration. In thedrawing, the cabinet consists of a top panel 51, back panel52, endpanels 53 with adjustable shelving strips 54, rear comer pieces 55 and56, front comer pieces 57 and 58, bottom piece 28, a lower broad bottompanel or base 26 spaced from bottom piece 28, upper front piece 59,lower front piece 49, and two multiple caster holders 60 each with fourcasters 25. The shelves are indicated by numeral 61 and there are twodoors 21 not shown in FIG. 14. In the caster holder 60 at the lefthandside of FIG. 14, the

casters do not appear because they are hidden from view. In thestructure, it will be noted that there are two bottom panels which arespaced apart, the lower panel 26 serving as a broad base for thecabinet.

Basically the structure is successful because when the center wheels 38are elevated, the angle of the cabinet is such that the bevel on theouter ends of the bottom parallels the floor line and exposes the bottomportion of the four small wheels or casters. When the cabinet is notbeing moved, it rests flat on the bottom 26 and the little wheels orcasters ride at about the floor line so that there is no pressure onthem.

The cabinet side walls provide a full skirt extending to the bottom ofthe cabinet and about the wheels so that there is no dirt accumulationunder the cabinet to be removed when the cabinet is moved.

While in the foregoing specification I have set out a specific structurein considerable detail for the purpose of illustrating an embodiment ofthe invention, it will be understood that such details may be'variedwidely by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit ofmy invention.

I claim:

1. In a cabinet structure adapted for stationary and mobile use on afloor, a cabinet frame having sides and a base adapted to a rest on the.floor, a tubular axle housing secured to said frame and defining acontinuous slot including firstand second elongated axial sections and acircumferential section communicating one end of each of said elongatedaxial sections, an axle rotatably mounted in said housing and definingan elongated axial slot, wheel hubseccentrically mounted on said axlefor rotation therewith whereby rotation of said axle selectively raisesand lowers said wheel hubs,

wheels rotatably mounted on said hubs, and a crank telescopicallyreceived in said axle and including a radial pin extending through theaxial slot of said axle and said slot of said axle housing forselectively rotating i said axle to bring said wheels to positions aboveand 'd b' t b f i'fi str ct se ofiaim 1 wherein said axle is a tubegated axial section of said slot in said axle housing is longer thansaid second elongated section therein whereby when said pin of saidcrank is traveling in said first axial section, said crank may beinserted further into said axle and said axle housing and when said pinis I traveling in said second axial section of said slot, the insertionof said crank is limited for easier access to said crank.

4. The structure of claim 3 wherein said crank is jointed at anintermediate position to include an arm which may be rotated between astorage position wherein the arm is coaxial with said axle and anoperative position wherein said am extends perpendicularly to said axlefor rotation thereof.

1. In a cabinet structure adapted for stationary and mobile use on afloor, a cabinet frame having sides and a base adapted to a rest on thefloor, a tubular axle housing secured to said frame and defining acontinuous slot including first and second elongated axial sections anda circumferential section communicating one end of each of saidelongated axial sections, an axle rotatably mounted in said housing anddefining an elongated axial slot, wheel hubs eccentrically mounted onsaid axle for rotation therewith whereby rotation of said axleselectively raises and lowers said wheel hubs, wheels rotatably mountedon said hubs, and a crank telescopically received in said axle andincluding a radial pin extending through the axial slot of said axle andsaid slot of said axle housing for selectively rotating said axle tobring said wheels to positions above and below said cabinet base.
 2. Thestructure of claim 1 wherein said axle is a tube having a square crosssection and said telescopically received crank also has a square crosssection thereby to prevent relative rotational movement between saidcrank and said axle.
 3. The structure of claim 2 wherein said firstelongated axial section of said slot in said axle Housing is longer thansaid second elongated section therein whereby when said pin of saidcrank is traveling in said first axial section, said crank may beinserted further into said axle and said axle housing and when said pinis traveling in said second axial section of said slot, the insertion ofsaid crank is limited for easier access to said crank.
 4. The structureof claim 3 wherein said crank is jointed at an intermediate position toinclude an arm which may be rotated between a storage position whereinthe arm is coaxial with said axle and an operative position wherein saidarm extends perpendicularly to said axle for rotation thereof.